As music critics — and people who generally think about, talk about, listen to and make music — the most common question we get asked (and ask each other, for that matter) is, “What are you listening to right now?” The pervasiveness of this query is precisely what inspired Heavy…
This week’s top flier comes to us from the far-off, exotic land of Fort Collins. While we don’t get up that way as often as we should, there’s no shortage of talented acts coming out of there and, as this flier shows, no shortage of talented designers helping them get…
Bob Dylan’s Christmas in the Heart topped the charts at Wax Trax, while Shrinebuilder’s self-titled debut continues to be a strong seller and came in second for the week ending December 20. Susan Boyle, who’s tearing up charts everywhere, came in at the third slot with her debut, I Dreamed a Dream, while…
Can you tell Christmas is just two days away? Everybody’s getting in the holiday spirit it seems. We just heard that the Fray is giving away five unreleased Christmas MP3s. Well, the first one, fittingly enough, “The First Noel,” is absolutely free, no strings attached. The other four are free,…
It’s about damn time this year ended. But before it does, we’re taking a look back at your favorite stories of 2009. Here, the ten most popular concert reviews from the Backbeat blog…
Here what the area’s local-centric specialty radio shows were spinning this week. We’re currently tracking the playlists a number of different shows, including Radio 1190’s Local Shakedown, KTCL’s Locals Only*, 99.5 the Mountain’s Homegrown Show*, the Colorado Sound, which originates at KRFC and is re-broadcast all over Colorado, and the…
It’s about damn time this year ended. But before it does, we’re taking a look back at your favorite stories of 2009. Here, the ten most popular stories from the Backbeat blog…
This last decade has seen several genres rise and fall on the Billboard charts and because of that we’ve had a weird array of singles briefly topping the charts. In ten years or so, when we look back on the ’00s there are a few songs that might make us…
Looks like Christmas has come early, in the form of a brand-new, free single from the Ideal Fathers. These two new songs — “Tokyo Gore Police” and Guitari 2600,” available for free download on the band’s site — continue not only the Fathers’ tradition of saddling their tunes with killer…
Radiohead? Arcade Fire? Interpol? The Strokes? The White Stripes? Animal Collective? Yeah, we’ve heard of ’em. For us, though, there was a much more intriguing, compelling batch of bands that weren’t — for the most part, anyway — overhyped and overexposed this decade. (Plus: As much as we love that…
After Boulder’s Rose Hill Drive played Led Zeppelin II in its entirety at the Boulder Theater last New Year’s Eve, the band took a year-long hiatus. The band members made quite a few announcements saying they needed some time off to re-focus. Even so, there was some speculation that the…
Susan Boyle continues to dominate the charts at Twist & Shout and once again grabbed the top spot with her debut, I Dreamed a Dream. Tom Waits is still putting up a fight with Glitter and Doom Live and came in second while Christmas records from Sting and Bob Dylan…
It’s about damn time this year ended. But before it does, we’re taking a look back at your favorite stories of 2009. Here, the ten most popular concert slideshows…
Finally got a peek at Dent’s new video for “Sun Showers,” filmed by Jaysun Loushin’s production company, Sunsaytional, on location over the course of five days in New York last month. The clip opens with Dent making his way across the Brooklyn Bridge in a sick throwback Broncos tee, and…
Update: By now, you’ve probably heard but just in case you haven’t, Epilogues took home this year’s Hometown for the Holidays crown at Andrew’s On Lincoln this past Friday night. Beyond bragging rights for the next year, the act won three days of recording time at the Blasting Room in…
With just four days left until Christmas, the yuletide-oriented tunes keep pouring in. Today, we stumbled across a pair of tracks, one of which just may end up being our favorite for years to come. The first one is from The Alan Baird Project. It’s a modern rock reading of…
Alicia Keys grabbed the top spot at Independent Records with her fourth studio effort, The Element of Freedom, released last week on J Records. Gucci Mane, who was on top last week with The State vs. Radric Davis, slipped to number two, while Snoop Dogg’s Malice ‘N Wonderland came in…
It’s about damn time this year ended. But before it does, we’re taking a look back at your favorite stories and photos of 2009. Here, the ten most popular slideshows from the Backbeat blog…
We love Paper Bird. We love them here, we love them there, we love them live on the radio in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We didn’t know we loved them live on the radio in Jackson Hole until this morning, when we caught the video embedded above. But let’s face it…
See more photos on the slideshow page. 3OH!3, Meese, The Photo Atlas, The Pirate Signal Saturday, December 19, 2009 Fillmore Auditorium Better than: Sampling the diversity of Denver’s homegrown musical styles at four different venues. Anyone looking for an in-person illustration of the range of the Mile High city’s musical…
The Legendary River Drifters w/Tin Horn Prayer and Broken Spirits Friday, December 18th, 2009 Old Curtis St. Bar, Denver Better Than: A show where everyone was trying too hard to get that Americana sound. A judgmental person might see Tin Horn Prayer and think, “Oh boy, another band of punkers…
Movie soundtracks are a difficult beast to master. They have to take an already existing song and apply it to a new medium in a new context. This often works with varying results, and many songs are so overused in soundtracks, they’ve lost all meaning. We’d like to honor a…
